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World Wind Power Capacity & An Idea

One of our readers and I are putting together a comprehensive resource page for all things wind (will do the same for solar power, tidal power, and more eventually as well). As we create each section, I thought I’d post them (or parts of them) here.

The first section we’re tackling is installed wind power capacity around the world. Here’s the main part of that (but have some extra, unique parts to be added soon). Eventually, we’d like this page and others like it to be one-stop shops for everything you might want to know about these technologies. Of course, to make them so, I think it would be helpful if more members of the CleanTechnica community joined in the process. Drop comments below for corrections or additional info and let me know if you want to be even more involved. We want to use the most reliable, accurate, and up-to-date data possible.

Intro on Wind

World Wind Map

Yes, you’ve probably noticed, wind is super abundant. Some report that wind in windy locations on or near land can power the world 6 to 15 times over. It is also, arguably, the least-expensive energy source (or just slightly more expensive than geothermal, which has more limited availability) for creating new electricity for the grid, and this is without taking health costs of coal and natural gas into account. Wind is a clear cleantech and energy winner. (Map above via Global Energy Network Institute)

2010 Installed Capacity & Growth Worldwide

Total installed wind power capacity grew 38.3 GW (40%) in 2010, reaching 197 GW of installed capacity. I wrote previously that the wind power market actually slightly declined in 2010 compared to 2009 due to a slowdown in the U.S. market that has resulted from a lack of clear federal support for wind power and a “tight project finance market.” The decline is now minute due to added data on China wind power capacity.

The wind power market in the U.S. and is expected to pick up considerably again this year and total installed capacity is expected to increase significantly again as well. While wind power in the U.S. hit a small bump in 2010, China’s wind power installations increased tremendously during that time. China has now passed up the U.S. as the global leader in total installed wind power capacity.

Wind power capacity has increased dramatically over the years as the wind power market has exploded. And much more is expected from the coming years. Data in the next three sections below come from the Global Wind Energy Council (and yes, these are the updated statistics and graphs from the corrections made by GWEC just this week). (Note: we intend to add links to the data below in a downloadable format shortly.)

Newly Installed Wind Power Capacity Worldwide (in MW)

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Clearly, the growth rate for wind power has increased significantly over the years. The past 3-4 years have seen much more newly installed wind power capacity than previous years.

2010: 38,265

2009: 38,793

2008: 26,560

2007: 19,866

2006: 15,245

2005: 11,531

2004: 8,207

2003: 8,133

2002: 7,270

2001: 6,500

2000: 3,760

1999: 3,440

1998: 2,520

1997: 1,530

1996: 1,280

Cumulative Installed Wind Power Capacity Worldwide (in MW)

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The trend is quite clear: practically exponential growth in installed wind power capacity in recent years. Even with a “weak” year in wind power growth in 2010, total installed capacity grew considerably.

2010: 197,039

2009: 158,908

2008: 120,291

2007: 93,820

2006: 74,052

2005: 59,091

2004: 47,620

2003: 39,431

2002: 31,100

2001: 23,900

2000: 17,400

1999: 13,600

1998: 10,200

1997: 7,600

1996: 6,100

Top 10 Countries for Cumulate Wind Power and Newly Installed Wind Power Capacity in 2010

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China

As stated above, some of the big news in 2010 was that China installed the most wind power by far, 18,928 MW (49.5% of total new wind power capacity worldwide). It’s investment in wind last year makes a clear statement about who is looking to lead the world into the clean energy economy and dominated the global economy in years to come. Newly installed wind power capacity in China in 2009 was 13 GW, which more than doubled its previous total cumulative installed capacity of 12,104. This accounted for 34.7% of newly installed wind power capacity worldwide and put China at #1 for newly installed capacity. 2010’s growth gives China the most total installed wind power capacity in the world at 44,733 MW (22.7% of world capacity).

USA

The United States installed much less than China but was still second in the world in new installations in 2010 at 5,115 MW (13.4% of newly installed capacity). In 2009, it had installed 9,922 MW of wind power capacity, accounting for 26.5% of newly installed capacity worldwide.

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Europe

Europe led the world in wind power capacity for awhile (see chart above) and has had steady wind power growth over the past several years. Like the U.S., its growth dipped a little bit in 2010. Europe previously had the most installed wind power capacity of any continent but lost that lead to Asia after providing only in 2010. 6 of the top 10 countries in total installed wind power capacity and newly installed wind power capacity in 2010 were still European countries.

Germany

Germany, with a total of 27,214 MW of wind power is the clear leader in Europe today. It, however, was second in newly installed wind power in 2010, installing 1,493 MW. It was 3rd and 5th in the world, respectively.

Spain

Spain installed the most wind power in Europe in 2010, 1,516 MW, and is second in total cumulative installed wind power capacity at 20,676 MW. It was 4th in the world in both categories.

Other Countries

Other than China, the United States, and Europe, there are a couple more countries in worth covering. India and Canada are both in the top 10 worldwide for installed wind power capacity.

India

India is currently the 5th-largest in the world. It has increased from only 4,000 MW of installed wind power capacity in 2005 to 13,000 MW in 2010. In 2010, it installed 2,139 MW (3rd-most in the world). Like China, it is also looking to increase its wind power capacity tremendously in the coming years.

Canada

Canada had the 9th-most cumulative and newly-installed wind power capacity in 2010 (4,009 MW and 690 MW, respectively).

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*This page, and every other page in this the resource pages we create, should be thought of as a draft. Each page might contain a mistake, something that needs more explanation, updating with new information, etc. Jump in and help make each version even more useful than the last.

About the Author

Zachary Shahan is tryin' to help society help itself (and other species), one letter at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity; or as president of Important Media. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media: ZacharyShahan.com.

Hey! I am searching new potential countries for wind energy installation for my thesis. Could you help me?.

Windman

OK it is a start, an desperately needed, great suggestions from responders as well. There is a clear need in this effort to be ABSOUTELY perfect with correct information, or the naysayers will have their day. This is in my mind, the number one priority.

Since most naysayers or especially Clean coal types will attack the site as being biased toward clean energy, down side information must also be included (accurately covered in a dispassionate way) to avoid the perception of bias.

I say this as a seriously senior citizen who supports all forms of clean energy, and seem to be be a lone supporter among large number of my senior friends who buy into the news and TV adds that pile on the incorrect myths we face today.

Keep up the good work

Anonymous

Good tips, Windman.

Greatly appreciated.

Jjerome

Love this article and the concept. This is much needed, especially in face of the campaign of misinformation flying around the internet and public presentations.

Anonymous

A possible addition for the first rewrite…

“Spain’s wind energy industry is happily spreading some good news to detract from a troublesome slowdown in the sector and uncertainty over future regulation: The country beat Germany to become Europe’s leading producer of wind energy last year.

In 2010, electricity from Spanish wind farms reached 42,976 GWh, exceeding Germany’s output of 36,600 GWh for the first time ever….

Noteworthy in Spain’s climb to the top of the EuroObserv’ER ranking is the fact that the country’s wind energy capacity last year, at 20,676 MW, was below that of Germany at 27,214 MW.

Unlike Germany, Spain experienced a year of high winds in 2010. Also contributing to higher output was the sector’s use of more advanced turbines, according to the association, which noted Spain’s late development of the wind energy market and thus access to the latest technology. The sector also benefited from a better system for integrating renewable energy into the national grid system, according to AEE.”

Very nice job! Some feedback I would like to share. China and the US just because of their size will be on top of the charts. It would be interesting to see what is the installed capacity per capita or something else that gives us a relative idea of how much impact their installed base has per citizen.

Anonymous

Good feedback jj. Look for a new addition to the Wind section which will compare countries based on installed/population and installed/GDP.

Also needed – percentage of total electricity from wind for each country.

Anonymous

jj, thanks for the note. got 2 posts scheduled on this today 😀 one on per GDP & one on per capita

Wind Energy

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